The Kirkus Prize is one of the richest literary awards in the world, with a prize of $50,000 bestowed annually to authors of fiction, nonfiction and young readers’ literature. It was created to celebrate the 81 years of discerning, thoughtful criticism Kirkus Reviews has contributed to both the publishing industry and readers at large. Books that earned the Kirkus Star with publication dates between November 1, 2014, and October 31, 2015 (see FAQ for exceptions), are automatically nominated for the 2015 Kirkus Prize, and the winners will be selected on October 15, 2015, by an esteemed panel composed of nationally respected writers and highly regarded booksellers, librarians and Kirkus critics.

KIRKUS REVIEW

Fae princess Merry Gentry is about to give birth to triplets at the ad hoc Court she's established in Los Angeles, giving rise to political and personal complications across the faerie world and threatening those closest to her.

Merry, born Princess Meredith NicEssus, is the first faerie princess born on American soil, with bloodline ties to both the Seelie and Unseelie Royal Courts. Having survived countless assassination attempts, she fled to California and lived a mortal life as a private investigator for years, but recently, her magic has awakened, and she has established her own household with powerful lovers while creating alliances with other supernatural beings. Both Fae Courts are likely ruled by infertile leaders, causing infertility in the population, so many faeries are following Merry to LA and pledging their allegiance to her, hoping she will help them bear children of their own. Meanwhile, her enemy, King Taranis, is using both magical and legal means to get Merry under his influence, all while Merry and her stable of lovers are settling in to life with three babies, from two different fathers. Paranormal superstar Hamilton returns to her Merry Gentry series with the same storytelling imbalance that affects most of her books these days: There's too much boring sex, talking about sex, and Merry waxing rhapsodic about her many, many lovers. We catch occasional glimpses of Hamilton’s brilliant storytelling and compelling imagination, and the worldbuilding remains spectacular, with its many amazing physical and spiritual details—when we get to see it. Hamilton grew her reputation on her action-packed, supernatural storytelling and eroticism, and while we get slivers of it, we have to wade through too much banality to get there.

A shadow of Hamilton’s greatness, but avid fans waiting for the continuation of Merry’s story will still buy it.

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